Chicago, May 18-21, 2013 – <\/b>The National Restaurant Association (NRA) Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show like every year, provided a lot to be excited about. \u00a0The show brings together operators across all segments of the industry.\u00a0 While talk between attendees focused on a number of the events away from McCormick Place, the NRA Show exhibit hall still delivered the latest products, flavors, equipment and technological advances.<\/p>\n
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The show featured several themes that are evident of the industry\u2019s issues, challenges, and trends. \u00a0These themes could be found throughout the show floor and included healthy eating, beverages, and flavor bursts.<\/p>\n
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Complex, yet uncomplicated was the flavor theme common to many new products. Preparations seen at the show in culinary demonstrations and around trendy Chicago restaurants that were a hit during the show were those that featured simple ingredients, nothing fussy or overdone.<\/p>\n
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Adding flavor and reducing sodium was a common theme in chef to chef conversations.\u00a0 Salt blended with a savory herb seasoning was a convenient product that offered foodservice operators a simple, kitchen-friendly way to accomplish this.<\/p>\n
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The new pavilion for products free from gluten, nuts, and dairy allergens was filled with suppliers to meet these needs.\u00a0 Products such as chips, bakery, sauces and marinades have vastly improved product formulations from previous years to meet taste expectations of today\u2019s consumers.\u00a0 One product in particular that was virtually indistinguishable from its gluten and nut-containing cousins was Kiki\u2019s empanadas with savory spinach and cheese filling and a buttery, flaky shell in two portion sizes:\u00a0 appetizer\/kids or center of the plate.<\/p>\n
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According to research from the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness, the additional pavilion was much needed, since gluten-free menu items have increased 275% since 2009.<\/p>\n
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Consumers today want the option of choosing health when eating away from home.\u00a0 While they may not always stick to their healthy regimens when dining out, having that option puts them at ease.\u00a0 For operators, health can be challenging since \u201chealthy\u201d descriptors can have an adverse effect within consumer mindsets. \u00a0When it comes to ordering, most consumers associate healthy offerings with bland, tasteless, and boring.\u00a0 The Culinary Institute of America crafted a series of tips to help operators menu health in a way that will appeal to all customer types. \u00a0They are as follows:<\/p>\n
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Spurred by the new menu planning regulations for schools, manufacturers have responded with healthy kids\u2019 snacks in portion-controlled packages.\u00a0 Products are even labeled as \u201csnacks\u201d to help build meal occasions in the consumer\u2019s mind.\u00a0 Examples include \u201csnack crackers\u201d in kid-pleasing shapes, \u201cyo-kids squeezers\u201d \u2013 individual servings of pushable yogurt in sleeves, and squeezable pouches with plastic screw caps that contain fruit juice and coconut milk blends, applesauce or other fruit and vegetable purees.<\/p>\n
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Specialty beverages in consumer-friendly packaging were displayed throughout the show floor.\u00a0 Specialty teas, carbonated sodas, infused waters, and natural ginger ales were touted for having superfood qualities and appealing to consumers.<\/p>\n
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In addition to specialty beverages, an abundance of coffee and tea companies exhibited products and menu applications using improved cold-brewing techniques for iced and blended beverages and quicker blending times using concentrates.<\/p>\n
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It wasn\u2019t just coffee companies taking advantage of that java flavor. \u00a0Espresso, cappuccino, and coffee flavors could be found throughout the show floor in sweet treats such as Greek yogurt and ice cream.<\/p>\n
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Flavor concentrates took on new forms for foodservice, including tiny spheres, crystals and powders, with flavors ranging from herbs like basil and mint to floral, such as rose, and vegetal fennel flavor.<\/p>\n
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A mini Fancy Food Show set up shop in the north hall, displaying innovative specialty foods such as frozen heat & serve grits, polenta, and steel cut oatmeal that retains the nutrients of the long-cook versions.\u00a0 Grilling enhancers like Smokin\u2019 Dust, which was touted as \u201cflavored wood dust,\u201d when added to the fire source will infuse additional smoky flavors into foods.\u00a0 More natural smoking methods were on offer, such as hardwood chips, blocks and dust that can infuse foods with different aromatic flavors depending on the type of wood.<\/p>\n
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Technology is overtaking the foodservice industry from mobile, to online ordering, to loyalty programs; operators and their consumers can\u2019t seem to get enough.\u00a0 The days of face-to-face seem to be dwindling whereas touch screen and instant communication are preferred technologies with today\u2019s consumer.\u00a0 Online ordering, loyalty programs, energy efficiency and big data also emerged as common themes. \u00a0The show was also inundated by digital menu boards, tablets, and POS systems of the future.<\/p>\n
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Attendees bombarded Twitter with NRA happenings, including product samples of interest, highlights from sessions, and celebrity chef sightings.\u00a0 Restaurants turning to mobile apps for marketing got a lot of buzz, as well as show trends such as Greek yogurt, new iced tea flavors, and healthy kids\u2019 food.\u00a0 Exhibitors also blasted the Twitter-sphere in an effort to drive traffic to their booths.<\/p>\n
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If you want to be on the forefront of trends at shows nationwide, follow our observations in real time at https:\/\/twitter.com\/OlsonComm.\u00a0 The next conference where we will tweet trends is the International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Show June 2-4, 2013.<\/i><\/p>\n
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Allergen awareness<\/b> \u2013 consumer desire for products \u201cfree from\u201d continues to gain momentum and great tasting alternatives are in demand.\u00a0 These items will appeal to mainstream consumers as those with diagnosed food allergies.<\/p>\n
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Easy Options<\/b> \u2013 foodservice operators are interested in products that offer them no-compromise convenience when it comes to offering healthful and delicious choices to their customers.\u00a0 They want to accommodate all of their customers with desirable choices, yet they don\u2019t want to dilute their focus from their menu specialty.<\/p>\n
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House-made Made Easy<\/b> — Operators are looking for clean labels and foods that look house-made, yet are convenient for high volume kitchens.\u00a0 Suppliers who offer products that can be easily customized on premise in a signature way are in demand.<\/p>\n
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Technology Takes Personal Out of Service<\/b> \u2013 technology that eliminates errors and improves efficiency is demand in high volume foodservice and venues that target younger consumers.\u00a0 Menu items will be challenged to \u201cspeak for themselves\u201d to appeal to consumers.<\/p>\n
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Complimentary Exhibitions<\/b> \u2013 the Sweets & Snacks Expo that immediately followed the NRA Show at McCormick Place drew a significant number of the same buyers who were focused on convenience retail within foodservice or simply interested in exploring the snack category in more depth.\u00a0 A few suppliers exhibited at both shows.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Chicago, May 18-21, 2013 – The National Restaurant Association (NRA) Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show like every year, provided a lot to be excited about. \u00a0The show brings together operators across all segments of the industry.\u00a0 While talk between attendees focused on a number of the events away from McCormick Place, the NRA Show exhibit hall stillRead More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[33],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/culinaryvisions.org\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/culinaryvisions.org\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/culinaryvisions.org\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culinaryvisions.org\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culinaryvisions.org\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/culinaryvisions.org\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":409,"href":"https:\/\/culinaryvisions.org\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236\/revisions\/409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/culinaryvisions.org\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culinaryvisions.org\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culinaryvisions.org\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}